We have traversed a long journey with Ms. Rand and her ideas. How about you? Who is John Gault?
SAO POLICY.
The comments for the last few days have been rife with opinions on the SAO's policy, for the moment limited to small traffic cases, of informing attorneys of the existence of police reports, and leaving it to the attorneys to go get the reports themselves.
A few thoughts.
1)The State apparently is within their rights to do this.
2)Be careful what you ask for, because you may get it.
The system we have works best when there is cooperation between opposing counsel in moving the discovery process along. At the moment, the prosecutor's office appears to be just shifting the burden for budgetary reasons to the clerk's office, which is equally understaffed with budget issues to handle the increased requests for copies of files.
There must be a better way.
First of all technology should be utilized. Many reports can be scanned and posted for downloading, or the state could accept emails for requests that items be provided via email. If you accept that the prosecutor's office will have to dedicate personnel for monitoring attorneys who want to review and copy files, why not use those employees to scan and email the items instead?
Second- there is a big difference between a traffic print out- which can be shared in court- and a police report that may contain exculpatory material. We have no problem with a traffic print out not being provided, but the reports should be.
Third- the issue should be prioritized. If this first small step is not the thin edge of a larger wedge in which the prosecutor's office is going to incrementally stop providing all reports, then defense attorneys need to draw the line now and defend it.
But if the state is trying to save money on cases that routinely do not go to trial or can be tried without a lot of discovery, then it's probably a good idea.
Fourth: What we did not see was any cooperative effort on the part of the prosecution. Unilateral decisions (even if you have the power to make them) that effect a lot of people and upend a system that has been in place for decades are not the right way to approach the problem. The FACDL has a committee of hot shot county court lawyers who should have been consulted, along with the judges. This would have created the ability to reach a decision in which all parties were a part of. If someone feels part of the solution, they will not cause a problem.
Our sources tell us there is another county court blitz next week. Judge Slom should be hired as the defensive coordinator of the Ravens.
We're in NYC, carbo loading and strapping on the shoes. One last time. Wish us luck.
NPR did a fascinating interview with the author this week. Ayn Rand pretended to have no help in establishing herself in the US, but in fact had loads of support, family, $, jobs, etc. Just a little bit of hypocrisy in her work.
ReplyDeleteShumie time at 454 this halloween weekend. Going to keep up tradition and hit several halloween parties as "The Q".
ReplyDeleteDude- those Q masks are da bomb.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is already utilized. It's called SPIRIT.
ReplyDeleteWhy would you have expected KFR and company to warn the defense bar or seek input? All everyone's done for the past few years (via this site and elsewhere) is bitch and moan. I've said it before and I'll say it again..........the system works best when people strive to at least get along and collaborate to the extent that they are able. The onus is on everyone, not just the State. You can't expect the State to cooperate with all the nonsense they see every day. It's time that everyone get together and approach KFR in a conciliatory manner. If nothing else, KFR is open to new ideas and willing to talk. Try it. You have nothing to lose.
ReplyDeleteBTDT
(a FORMER prosecutor)
I got a call recently from a guy named Alan on behalf of Judge Seidman in Broward asking for a minute "to tell me what a good guy Judge Seidman is". I do about a dozen cases in Broward a year and all but a few are misdemeanors. I have a case before Seidman now, my first ever. I ask how he got my number and he said I was on the upcoming dockett. He goes into how the Judge is the best judge for defense attorneys and that the State Attorneys office is running a candidate against Seidman because he is too defense oriented. Of course he ends with the need for money.
ReplyDeleteSo WTF? I have never had a call like this before. Is this something special for Dade attorneys? I cant say there was anything improper but it sure felt wierd. Anyone else get this call yet?
I have been called too. I tried a few cases before LJSeidman.
ReplyDeleteHe is clueless. He was mean and stupid.
He needs to be replaced.
Kirsh gives high marks to “Ayn Rand and the World She Made” by Anne Heller.
ReplyDelete"For one thing," observes Kirsh, "it is far more interesting than anything in Rand’s novels."
Rand's books were "just as one would expect from the middling Hollywood screenwriter she once was..." and her message "not necessarily more sophisticated."
Heller takes us down the tortured path of Rand and her philosophy, both of which end with "a herd of individualists who nicknamed themselves 'the Collective' — ironically, but not ironically enough, for they began to display the frightening group-think of a true cult."
The cultish appeal helps answer the question "Who is John Galt?" Rand's book is a grandiose paean to the writer and reader. Readers are able to convince themselves THEY are Galt. THEY are true genius surround by hoi polloi. THEY do not misunderstand, they are misunderstood.
Some stand in front of mirrors while reciting self-affirmations. Others read Rand.
Isn't seidman the same judge that was asking people if they were u.s. citizens and then sicking immigration on anyone who said they weren't?
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